


Nickname

by orphan_account



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:48:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21581440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The nickname your soulmate calls you is on your skin. Not many people have them, however, and go about life normally. The same could not be said for a certain two mercenaries.bruh i wrote this in a 12 am haze and i hate it
Relationships: Sniper/Spy (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 128





	Nickname

**Author's Note:**

> please dont think too much about this i dont like it a lot

"What is it, spook? Shouldn't you be off stabbing backs or something?"

  
Spy froze in his tracks. He'd been wandering around the nest and figured he'd drop by, see how the Sniper was doing. What surprised him hadn't been the fact that Sniper knew he was there. What did was what he had been called. A name he hadn’t heard since he’d met, well...

  
Sniper sensed something was off and looked up from the scope. “What?”

  
“What?”

  
“Why’re you all-” he gestured vaguely, “Y’know, weird all of a sudden. I mean, you’re always weird but this is a different kinda weird, I think.” He looked concerned.

  
Spy looked at him, not entirely sure of what he heard. “What did you say?”

"I asked why you went all funny?"

  
"No, what you said before that."

  
"I said you should be stabbing backs?"

  
"You called me a 'spook.'"

  
"...Oh." Sniper looked a bit embarrassed. "Since you're always sneaking up on people I just kinda thought of it, I guess. Didn’t realize I said it out loud.”

  
It was strange. Years ago, the thought of hearing that name again terrified him. Now, he found it didn’t arise the same feeling he thought it would.

_“You’re always sneaking up on me, like some ghost! What are you, a spook?”_  
_She didn’t know it had been the word on his shoulder blade at the time. He hadn’t known there wasn’t one on her at the time. Only a small percentage of the population had a mark, after all. He hadn’t known until she told him about Jeremy. How she had kept it from him, he didn’t know. Maybe she’d been more experienced in hiding such things than he was at the time. Told him it was better to have given it a shot then to not try at all. Everyone else lived happy lives without a destined soulmate, why shouldn’t she? But he was a coward then, and ran away. Just like the name on his skin, disappearing into almost nothing. A ghost without a trace._  
_He still felt guilty, of course, and ended up sending money to her. He hadn’t expected his son to work for Mann Co as well, but revealing their relations between each other would make their already tense relationship worse. So he stayed hidden to Jeremy, never saying a word._

Spy relaxed his shoulders. No point in telling Sniper about that information. “I don’t mind.” After all, sitting in one spot all day must leave lots of time to oneself. Perhaps making up nicknames for others was something he did during that time, and the name “spook” was simply a coincidence.

  
**_Bang._ **

  
The sound of the rifle pulled Spy out of his thoughts, back into reality. “So if I’m a spook, what are the others?” A simple question, though what he really wanted to know was if Sniper had made names for everyone else, or if it had just been Spy that had one.

  
“Mm, haven’t made ones for everyone else yet. Haven't really thought about it, I guess.”

  
Well, that definitely changed things. If this Australian really was his soulmate, what was the name on him? What was it that Spy was going to call him?

  
He left the area to think, while stabbing a few enemies (and being stabbed, though only once this time)  
He thought about Sniper. What was it that stood out about him, specifically? Well, he’d stay in the same spot for hours at a time just to get a clear shot at a target. Not much he could pull from that, though. Once, in the base, Sniper had talked extensively about his home in Australia, about his parents, the land, every small detail about it. Spy, who had always been moving around, never knowing a piece of land so closely for long, found it enthralling. The way the other man knew so much about his homeland like the back of his hand had been stunning to Spy. There had been a word for people like that. What was it again?

Oh, right. A bushman. That’s what they were called.

  
Bushman. The syllables floated off his tongue. It was a perfect label for his friend, or perhaps, possible soulmate.

The next day, Spy climbed up to the current perch Sniper was at.

  
“Ello again, spook.”

  
“Hello.” The corners of Spy’s mouth twitched up just a bit. It seemed that Sniper had decided on using the name he’d used the day before.

  
It was a slow day today. None of the teams were really feeling up to it today, and many of them had ended up chatting among their respective teams. Spy leaned back against the wall next to Sniper, neither of them saying anything for a good amount of time.

  
It felt like hours before the opposing teams intelligence was finally captured, and they were all free to return to the base for the day. Sniper headed for his van, as usual, and Spy to his room at base.  
“Seeya later,” mumbled Sniper, as he split ways with Spy.

  
“You as well, bushman.” He pulled out a cigarette and walked away before Sniper could say anything.

It was only later when Sniper realized why the name sounded familiar. It was the one written down on the left side of his hip, the one he’d almost forgotten about.

They didn’t get a chance to talk until after dinner (which was made by Engie, the only one who knew how to cook a decent meal.)

  
Sniper knocked on the door to Spy’s room once everyone else had gone off to theirs as well. He only had 2 seconds to panic before the door opened, and Spy stepped aside to let him in.

  
“I assume you have something to say, oui?” There was a knowing grin on Spy’s face, as if he knew what Sniper was about to say. He probably did as well, after all Sniper had been the first to call him something. Hell, he probably planned this whole thing.

  
“I, uh…” He glanced at Spy, who was staring at him with the same smirk. “You called me bushman yesterday.”

  
“Yes, and what about it?” Smirk still on his face, Spy stepped closer. “You called me a spook, so?”

  
“Well, uh, it doesn’t happen to be a name somewhere on you, does it…?”

  
“Depends. Is there one on you, _cher?_ ” Another step closer, and Sniper’s breath hitched as only inches were left between them. If he didn’t say it now, he’d back off on the topic.

  
“Are we soulmates?” The question came out in a second, though by now Sniper realized it was pointless to ask. The answer was already there, judging by the face on Spy as he leaned closer, connecting their mouths together.

  
That was a night Sniper didn’t sleep in his van, and the night Spy revealed to him the truth about Scout, their marks fully visible to each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Based off of this post https://generalgrievousdatingsim.tumblr.com/post/188703794633/soulmate-au-where-instead-of-your-soulmates-name


End file.
